Uni-Tübingen

Wellbeing@Uni Tübingen

Wellbeing at the University of Tübingen

The wellbeing of our employees and students is important to us. Wellbeing is something individual. Everyone needs something different to find a healthy way of dealing with themselves and their environment. 


With the “6 Ways to Wellbeing”, as part of a cooperation project, we would like to: 
- provide guidance
- draw attention to the wide range of off programes and counseling opportinities for mental, physical and social health at the University of Tübingen 
- encourage participation in workshops, consultations and health programs.

Here is an overview of health and wellbeing programes:

Students

Student Health Management 
(SGM BeTaBalance)

Employees

Employee Health Management
(BGM)

6 Ways to Wellbeing

What are yours?

Be Active

A walk with friends, stretch breaks, a workout at home or trying out a new sport at the university sports center - exercise has been proven to not only keep you fit, but also to promote mental wellbeing and social interaction. There are various exercise programs at the university for this purpose.

Connect

Social relationships are important for our wellbeing and reduce the risk of mental illness. The university offers consultations and opportunities to make and maintain social contacts: Student councils, student initiatives, or breaks with fellow students and colleagues.

Eat Well

A balanced diet has a significant impact on health and wellbeing. The canteens and cafeterias at the university offer a variety of options for this, including the daily MensaVital meal or the RettIch-Regal - a drop-off and take-away point for rescued food. 

Be Relaxed

In order to face everyday challenges, it is important to find ways to relax and strengthen your resources for dealing with stress. An important part of this is being consciously aware of what is happening around us and how we feel. In order to strengthen resources, conscious time-outs and relaxation exercises or visiting feel-good places can be helpful. 

Keep Learning

Lifelong learning is central to personal development and mental health. Regardless of age, learning is associated with increased life satisfaction and self-confidence. In addition to lectures and seminars, the university as a place of learning offers many other opportunities to learn new things and to develop further. 

Get and give

Community-oriented behavior - such as helping, sharing and giving - helps to increase self-esteem and feel good. At the university, there are many opportunities to get involved but also to get help. For example, through counseling services or by getting involved in various initiatives.

The internationally recognized concept of the "Five Ways to Wellbeing" was developed in 2008 by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) on behalf of the UK Government’s Foresight Program as a tool to improve mental health and wellbeing across the population. Our campaign is based on these five ways and has been adapted and expanded to include the (wellbeing) services offered by the University of Tübingen, while also considering the Sustainable Development Goals.

Designing a Self-Experiment

Self-experiments are a great way to break out of established routines and gain new perspectives.

We invite you to try small changes in your (university) daily life, ideally over a period of four weeks. This is more about trying things out than about quick success, as growth often comes from experience, learning, and even failure. 

How it works:

  • Week 1: Planning & Self-Observation
  • Weeks 2 & 3: Conducting the Experiment
  • Week 4: Evaluation & Transition to a "New Normal"

Enjoy experimenting!

Self- Experiment - Download instructions here

The Project: Wellbeing@Uni-Tübingen

Wellbeing and Sustainable Development

At a university-wide networking meeting in May 2023 on the topic of “Culture of sustainability at the University of Tübingen” - organized by the KuNaH research project and the Competence Center for Sustainable Development - the topic of “mental health” and the more comprehensively formulated topic of “wellbeing” were identified and addressed as particularly relevant by the participating university members. 

Sustainable development, as defined by the UN, is based on the idea of justice: intergenerational and intragenerational equity, as well as prioritizing the basic needs of the poorest without destroying the environment (see Brundtland Report, 1987, Agenda 21, 1992, SDGs/Agenda 2030, 2015). In this sense, maintaining and enabling health is also a central goal of sustainable development and, to a certain extent, a prerequisite for further sustainable action.

The project contributes to the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals: Good Health and Wellbeing. Promote Mental Health.

The Wellbeing@Uni-Tübingen project was initiated as a real-life experiment by the KuNaH project and implemented together with the cooperation partners listed below. This website was created within this framework. It is intended to facilitate access to needs-oriented offers and thus contribute to a culture of sustainability with regard to individual and collective well-being in everyday university practice.

A cooperation of

 

Contact

If you have any questions about the campaign, the offers or the project, please contact us:

Dr. Anja Scheu (BGM):
 bgmspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de

Juliane Kloos (SGM):
 sgmbetabalance@ifs.uni-tuebingen.de

Carina Betz (KuNaH Project):
 carina.betzspam prevention@izew.uni-tuebingen.de